Life-guard for railway-cars.



e. A. PARMENTER.. LIFE GUARD POR RAILWAY GARS. i APPLIOAIION FILED MAY 10, 1912. 1,068,444.

Patented July 29, 1913.

George c/. .Pa Tmen' entran sfraras ramena GEORGE A. PARMENTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-GUARD FOB, RAILVAY-CARS.

To all wiz-m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. PARMENTER, citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life- Guards for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in life guards for railway cars of the type having swinging bogies or trucks, and has among other purposes for its object to provide around the sides and front of the truck a rigid frame or guard normally carried at some little distance above the roadbed but capable of being dropped automatically in case an obstacle is encountered on the track, such guard including, at its front, a pick-up or scoop carried by the guard.

I have also aimed to pro-vide a guard of 20 Vthis type which, while serving to pick up .ticularly deiined by the appended claims.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view showing a suflicient portion of a guard frame and track wheels and axles in outline to illustrate they manner of applying the invention; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.`

Referring by reference characters to this drawing, the numerals 3 designate the sills of the car and 4 the wheels of the front truck, which is swiveled to the car body on the aXisY indicated at t, the details of the truck frame and pivotal connections not being shown, as these form no part of my invention, which is more clearly illustrated by the omission of the detailed parts of the car.

At the sides of the truck and outside of the wheels I provide sideboards 6 which are suspended by links 7 from arms S of bell crank levers 8, which bell crank levers are pivotally, supported by hangers 9 depending from the top bars of the truck frame, these hangers being representative of any suitable` supporting means carried by theframe of the truck. The arms 8b of the bell crank Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 10, 1912.

Patented July 29, 1913.

Serial No. 696,518.

levers on each side are connected by longitudinal bars or rods 10 which, at their forward ends, are connected to the extremities of a cross or radius bar 11 which is curved on an arc concentric with the pivotal axis lel of the truck. This curved bar is acted upon by inechanisi'n hereinafter described to normally hold it pressed to the rear, thereby holding the bell crank levers in the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, so as to hold the side bars G elevated. The side bars carry, at their forward ends, a rigid scoop or pick-up device which comprises a substantially horizontal projecting portion 12 and a vertical portion 12a. This vertical portion preferably extends straight across the track while the portion 12 may be conveniently made of wedge shape so that an object striking it near the side will be pushed to one side of the track.

The radius bar 11 is normally held pushed back to retain the side bars and scoop elevated through the medium of a pair of pulleys orvwheels 13 carried by a cross bar 14C which, in turn, is connected to a longitudinally movable link 15 operated in the manner hereinafter described. These pulleys or wheels are preferably grooved so as to prevent their slipping oif from the curved bar, and it will be seen that as the truck swings in rounding curves the wheels roll upon the curved bar, maintaining the parts constantly in a uniform operating position whether the car be running upon a straight track or around a curve. The bar 15 is eX- tended to the rear across the curved bar 11 and at its rear end is provided with a small wheel 1G acting on the rear side of the curved bar. rlhe bar 15 is pivotally connected at its front end to an arm 17 depending from a rock shaft 18 journaled in suit able hangers 18a depending from the sills of the car. r1`his rock shaft 18 carries near one end an arm 19 to which is connected the rear end of a longitudinally movable bar 20, which bar is adapted alsovto have a slight lateral movement. rlhis lateral movement may be permitted either by having its Divot a loose pivot or by using an angle bar having a vertical portion indicated at 2On of sufficient elasticity to permit lateral motion of the front end. This bar 2O corresponds to the bar 17 disclosed in Reissue Letters Pat ent of the United States #13,172, granted to me November 22, 1910, and l prefer to use in connection therewith the holding and reil. In combination with a railway car, levers carried on opposite sides thereof, with ineans for operating them, a guard, links pivotally supporting said guard from said levers.` and spring means for resisting swinging of said links.

5. In combination with a railway car, bell crank levers carried on opposite sides there of, a guard in proximity to the car wheels, swingable links supporting the guard from said bell crank levers, and means connected. to said bell crank levers for controlling the movement thereof.

G. In combination with a railway car, bell crank levers carried on opposite sides thereof, a guard in proximity to the car wheels, swingable links supporting the guard from said bell crank levers, one of said levers having an upwardly extending portion, a spring acting on said upwardly extending portion, and means co-nnected to said bell crank levers for controlling the movement thereof, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a car body and swiveled truck frame, of a guard comprising side bars adjacent the wheels of the truck, bell crank levers pivotally supported from opposite sides of the truck frame, and having arms supporting said side bars, longitudinally movable rods connected to the other arms of said bell crank levers, a curved bar connecting the forward ends of said longitudinally movable rods, and means for controlling the lowering of the guard acting on said movable bar.

8. The combination with a car body and swiveled truck frame, of a guard comprising side bars adjacent the wheels of the truck, bell crank levers pivotally supported from opposite sides of the truck frame and having arms supporting said side bars, longitudinally movable rods connected to the other arms of said bell crank levers, a curved bar connecting the forward ends of said longitudinally movable rods, a cross bar, a pair of rollers carried by said cross bar and bearing against said curved bar on opposite sides of the center of the car, and guard elevating and lowering means having connections for acting on said cross bar.

9. The combination with a car body and its truck, of a life guard supported from the truck to have vertical movement t0- ward and from the track, a tripping device carried by the car body, operating connections between said tripping device and life guar-d for effecting the lowering of the guard, and means for permitting the entire guard to move rearwardly and upwardly from its lowered position on encountering a rigid obstruction, without affecting the tripping device.

10. In combination with a railway car, a scoop or guard capable of vertical movement and capable also of rearward and upward movement independent of said vertical movement, and yielding means tending to resist such rearward and upward movement..

11. The combination with the truck frame of a car, of a guard inclosing the wheels and including side bars, bell crank levers pivoted to the truck frame and supporting the side bars, longitudinal bars connecting the bell crank levers on each side, a. cross bar connecting said longitudinal bars, means acting against said cross bar to normally hold said side bars against movement, and a device for releasing said holding means.

l2. The combination with a car body and swiveled truck frame, of a guard inclosing the wheels and including side bars, bell crank levers pivoted to the truck frame and supporting the said side bars, longitudinal bars connecting the bell crank levers on each side, means for normally holding said bars S5 against movement, and a tripping device carried by the car body for freeing said bars.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE A. PARMEN'IER.

litn esses JAMES M. SPEAK, EDWARD N. GODING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

